The trading debut of the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token has stirred headlines, redirecting focus toward other Trump family-affiliated cryptocurrencies that launched earlier in the year.
The Initial Frenzy
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump launched their official meme coins just before the presidential inauguration in January.
Both MELANIA and TRUMP soared following their launch, and at their peak, the combined market value of the two assets topped that of leading oil producer Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY).
In fact, TRUMP reached a fully diluted valuation of nearly $75 billion within two days of its launch, a feat that took several publicly listed corporations years to achieve.
However, the frenzy didn’t last long.
‘What Goes Up, Must Come Down’
TRUMP peaked at $75.35 before falling rapidly. The coin progressively declined over the months, and as of this writing, it was trading 89% below its all-time high. Its fully diluted valuation has collapsed to $8.34 billion.
Similarly, MELANIA has plunged 98.5% from the all-time high of $13.73 set shortly after its January launch. Moreover, the slump has wiped out $13 billion worth of the coin's fully diluted capitalization, which was currently at $194.91 million.
| Cryptocurrency | Price At Peak (Recorded on Jan.20, 2025) | Price (Recorded at 3.15 a.m. ET) | Gains +/- |
| Official Trump (CRYPTO: TRUMP) | $75.35 | $8.34 | -88.93% |
| Official Melania (CRYPTO: MELANIA) | $13.73 | $0.1945 | -98.58% |
See Also: Elizabeth Warren On Trump Family’s Unrealized $5 Billion World Liberty Token Gains: ‘Corruption, Plain and Simple’
Lesson For WLFI?
WLFI, the governance token of the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial, finds itself in a similar situation.
The coin began trading at $0.228 and climbed to a high of $0.46 within the next half hour. But the gains were quickly reversed, with the token now down 50% from its peak and 27% from its opening price.
But it was still early days for WLFI. And unlike TRUMP and MELANIA, which derive their value entirely as celebrity tokens, WLFI’s backers, including co-founder Donald Trump Jr., have described it as the “governance backbone of a real ecosystem.”
Price Action: At the time of writing, WLFI was exchanging hands at $0.1844, down 0.86% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga's Take: Investing in meme coins is highly speculative and involves significant risk. Meme coins often lack intrinsic value and are driven by market sentiment, social media trends, and celebrity endorsements.
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Disclaimer: Some elements of the story were previously reported by Benzinga, and the story has been updated.
Disclosure: The article was originally published on Benzinga.com on March 12, 2025.
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